Stage 2 Tour de France Goes to Chavanel

Stage 2 was set for another day of crashes on Tour de France 2010 but Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) emerged victorious among the rest, winning the stage and ranking first overall.

Chavanel led the break as early as the 10k mark. It consisted of Chavanel and seven other riders. Maintaining control of the lead, he was able to avoid the crash behind him and win the stage.

Chavanel explains, “I didn’t know what was going on behind me, although I did hear there’d been a crash. All I know is that I gave it everything I had. But whether the stage ended up being neutralized or not, it doesn’t take anything away from my win.”

Several crashes took place on the descent of the Col du Stockeu which involved Lance Armstrong, Alberto Contador, Fränk and Andy Schleck, Cadel Evans, Bradley Wiggins and Christian Vande Velde. Aside from the rains and slippery roads, oil was spilled from a TV motorcycle that crashed to avoid Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre).

Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) stopped to assist his teammates Frank and Andy Schleck as well as other cyclists at the crash. Cancellara had to give up the yellow jersey.

Due to the crash, the sprinter’s points were neutralized. Vande Velde suffered broken ribs and dropped out of the Tour while Armstrong and other RadioShack members suffered minor abrasions and bruises. George Hincapie, Evans and Mauro Santambrogio also received road rash. Team Milram, Team Sky, Astana, Cofidis, Katusha, Footon-Servetto, Liquigas and Rabobank all garnered some injured riders. HTC-Columbia and Cervelo Test Team were unscathed.